Thug jailed for hitting partner

A VIOLENT partner who hit his girlfriend and dragged her around by her hair as she begged him to stop has been jailed.

Andrew Richardson, aged 31, attacked Jodie Blunt by hitting her on her head, face and body before pushing her into a wall.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Jodie was screaming and crying but that cruel Richardson told her she ‘deserved all she got’.

The violence was sparked when the couple, who have a one-year-old son, held a discussion about their ‘volatile’ relationship.

Richardson then sent Jodie a threatening text, pressuring her to drop the charges.

In committing the assault he breached a suspended sentence made in 2010 for GBH, where he punched and kicked a man in an alleyway, breaking his arm.

Beverley Tait, prosecuting, said the couple had been together for three years at the time of the incident on October 5 last year.

“There had been violence throughout the relationship,” she said. “Jodie decided to confront the defendant, to speak with him regarding the relationship and the fact it needed to change.”

“At that point he physically attacked her. He hit her several times to the head, face and body.

“He grabbed her by her hair, dragged her around the kitchen and pushed her into the wall.

“He told her she deserved all she got. She begged him to stop.”

Ms Tait said the incident lasted 20 minutes. Jodie suffered bruised eyes and a lump on her head.

At 6.35pm the following day, she received the text, which read: ‘Drop the charges, or a member of your family will be getting done for benefit fraud’.

In a victim impact statement, Jodie said she feared for her own safety and that of her son.

Richardson, of Claycliffe Road, Barugh Green, Barnsley, said their relationship ‘had its ups and downs’ in interview following his arrest. George Speed, defending: “This was a volatile relationship. He didn’t assault the victim while in drink, there was no premeditation.”

Richardson was convicted of assault and witness intimidation. He attended his sentencing with a holdall packed for jail.

Judge Alan Goldsack QC told him: “Not to impose a custodial sentence would make a mockery of suspended sentences.”

Richardson received six months for assault and intimidation, and 30 weeks for the breach.